Sword of Minerva (The Guild Wars Book 10) by Mark Wandrey (great books for teens TXT) 📕

he said. Rick nodded and carried the pair to the nearby living room before returning to bring Dakkar’s module and their baggage inside. It wouldn’t do for a passing cop to stop and ask questions of the strangers carrying around an unconscious woman.

Sato got her settled on the couch, then found a crib in an adjacent sitting room, and took the screaming baby there. In the kitchen was a specialized autochef called a BabyChef. The mother had it preprogrammed for formula, so Sato pressed the button, and it produced a bottle in less than a minute.

“Good thing she wasn’t breastfeeding,” he mumbled as he brought the infant the bottle, situated the child on its side, and gave it the bottle. The baby was old enough to do the rest. “You good?” he asked the child, who had calmed down and was drinking happily, watching him with deep hazel-colored eyes. “Okay.” He went back into the living room.

Rick had Dakkar’s container open, and the Wrogul was perched on the edge, examining the room with its bright blue eyes.

“Has the situation deteriorated?” it asked with pulses of light.

“No,” Sato said. “We’re just…helping someone.”

The alien looked at the unconscious Mrs. O’Connell. “Help?”

“She fainted,” Rick offered, then explained why they were there.

“I see. So the female was unaware her mate had perished in battle?”

“It would appear so,” Sato said.

“Weird, since my mother knew about me,” Rick said.

“There were several months between your death and Captain O’Connell’s,” Sato reminded him. Just then, the woman began to wake. She looked at Sato and the armored form of Rick in alarm. “It’s okay,” Sato assured her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make this such a shock. We thought you had already been informed.”

She slowly sat up on her couch, wiping her eyes and sighing. “No, I haven’t gotten any notification. I’ve been reading all I could on the failed battle. Some bloggers have logged every Winged Hussars ship that was in the battle, including the ones destroyed. There were no sightings of Citation.” She sighed again and shook her head. “All the people who seemed to know tactics said Cromwell wouldn’t leave any of her cruisers behind unless they were damaged or…destroyed.” She looked down at her hands in her lap with the last.

“A logical assessment, I’m sad to say,” Sato said.

“Are you a captain, too?” She glanced from him to Rick for a second, standing stoically in the corner closer to the door.

“No, I’m a scientist.” He tapped the logo. “I actually designed the Crown-class, of which Citation was one.”

“I see,” she said. She finally noticed Dakkar’s support module and blinked in amazement. “Is that an alien?”

“Yes, his name is Dakkar; he’s a Wrogul and a friend of mind.” Dakkar flashed colors. “He says hello.”

She stared at the alien for a long moment, perhaps unable to add everything together into a complete picture. Finally she shook her head and addressed Sato again. “Can I see what you have?”

“Sure,” Sato said and handed her the picture and the ticket.

She gave a sad smile at the picture and turned the ticket over and over. “It’s funny he kept this,” she said. She held it up for Sato to see.

“What was it from?”

“Our senior prom. I only went with James because my friend wanted to go with his friend.” She chuckled. “I knew James, of course; we were in the same class and all. Thought he was a bit of an ass. The irony is, Janet never hit it off with Ted, James’ friend, while James and I fell in love. He kissed me while we danced.” She held up the ticket again. “This is from the prom. Our first kiss.”

She tucked the ticket fragment between the frame and the glass, taking the picture and placing it on the fireplace mantel. “Thank you for bringing this,” she said. “Where did he die?”

“The battle of Golara, the mission that allowed the Hussars to plan their offensive to retake the colonies,” Sato said. “Citation was destroyed in the battle while screening for a squadron led by a battlecruiser. His steadfastness in battle leading his crew helped us win the day.”

She moved a statue of a horse on the mantel, putting the picture in its place, fiddling with it a couple times.

<We should go,> Rick commed to Sato.

“We should go,” Sato said, repeating what Rick had sent to him privately. “I am sorry for coming unannounced, what with the alien occupation, and all.”

“Perfectly understandable.” She’d walked over to the adjoining room and checked her child, smiling as she returned. “You have a father’s touch; little James doesn’t take to many people. Do you have kids?”

“No,” Sato said. “It wasn’t in the cards for me.”

She looked at Rick who, to her, had remained silent. Her eyes narrowed with unasked questions, though she left them that way. As she walked past Dakkar, the Wrogul began to reach for her.

“Don’t you dare,” Sato said through his pinplant translator, producing a cascade of colorful lights. The tentacles retracted. Lea looked from Sato to the Wrogul curiously, then to the door.

“Thank you for coming,” she said. “At least I know.”

“That’s what I hoped to give you,” Sato said. Rick shooed Dakkar back into his module and closed the lid, picking it up with ease. Lea’s eyes went wide at the display of power.

“Your friend is quite strong.”

“It pays to have strong friends,” Sato said as he stepped outside and turned back to her. “Oh, I almost forgot!” He reached into a pocket and withdrew something, holding his hand out. She held her own hand out, and he dropped a credit chit into hers. “With the war, the usual means to pay benefits wasn’t available.”

“It wasn’t really…” her voice tapered off as she looked in her hand at the one-million-credit chit.